Light emitting diode (LED) lighting systems have been gaining increasing popularity in replacing incandescent and discharge lamps due to their long life, energy efficiency, and flexibility in optical design. As a result, the application of LED systems has come to include not only low-power applications, but also high-power applications. LED systems are also gaining popularity in outdoor applications, in addition to indoor applications. Moreover, LED systems are being used in general applications, and not just in special lighting applications.
For some applications, a Class II isolation for output is required. A typical Class II high-power LED driver design uses a common front-end power factor correction section with either multiple isolated LED converters in parallel, or with multiple single stage isolated LED drivers connected to the same power sources. In such arrangements, component redundancy is undesirably high. Consequently, the cost and size of such arrangements are high and system efficiency is low.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need in the art for systems and methods that facilitate reducing component redundancy and increasing system efficiency in Class-II rated circuits, and for overcoming the deficiencies noted above.